International

Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg on Sunday said President Trump’s use of tariffs isn’t going to work on China and is already inflicting collateral damage on rural America.

“We have a lot of different forms of leverage in the relationship,” Mr. Buttigieg told CNN’s State of the Union. “It’s also a fool’s errand to think you’re going to be able to get China to change the fundamentals of their economic model by poking them in the eye with some tariffs.”

Mr. Buttigieg said in the meantime, American consumers will see increased prices as the cost of the levies is passed down.

He said the White House seems to be aware of this, since Mr. Trump delayed tariffs on certain Chinese goods until Dec. 15 to avoid pain during the Christmas season.

“What are we supposed to do after Christmas?” said Mr. Buttigieg, who is the mayor of South Bend, Indiana.

He said Mr. Trump has “no strategy” for dealing with trade issues in a way that will benefit consumers or U.S. agriculture, which has seen its Chinese market closed off.

“American farmers are getting killed,” Mr. Buttigieg said.

Mr. Buttigieg said many of the farmers he meets are Republicans who supported Mr. Trump, but they’re asking a key question: “How much longer are we supposed to take one for the team?”